Color Essay Number 4: Beige

I know what you are thinking. Beige is a garden color? But bear with me. I know beige is not a considered a standard garden color. Most books on garden colors focus on bright flower colors, but beige does has a significant place in the color schemes of most gardens.

Beige is found in statuary, the weathered wood of backyard fences, in stonework and in garden paths of fine pea gravel. It is also the principal color of fall grasses and the garden as it drops off into its winter slumber.

Here are some of my favorite garden neutrals of past summer.

Locally grown garlic at the Ottawa Farmer's Market

Produce Baskets at Humber Nursery, Toronto.

Private garden, Mississauga Ontario. Stone and pebbles are beautiful garden neutrals

A robin takes a bath in a pool of water. Private garden, Mississauga Ontario. 

Sedum growing in a crevice of an old stump. Private garden, Georgetown Ontario.

Hey, I have to squeeze in one dog picture! This is Chelsea, one of my favorite garden tour guides. Chelsea resides at Butts Flower & Berry Farm in Rockwood, Ontario.

An angel in my neighbor's front garden. The vines are real, but the daises are not.

Miscanthus blowing in the wind, Hamilton, Ontario

The Miscanthus in detail

A wildflower gone to seed

A spent clematis in my back garden this fall

Seed pods on a winter's day

My Oakleaf hydrangea this past fall glowing the late day sun

Stay warm and have a great weekend, everyone!

A Quick Winter Vacation

I am running a day behind this week. I did not do a post on Monday, having come down with a stomach bug of some kind. Then, I missed sharing in on Wednesday posts as well! 

I don't know about you, but I have been looking out at my snow covered garden and am more than ready for a floral break! So here we go- a Wordless Wednesday post (well, almost wordless) on Thursday. Bright, colorful orchids to carry us all though this cold, wintery weekday.

Bondage (But not the kinky kind!)

Snow arrived last Thursday evening, right in time for rush hour traffic. Our first significant snowfall of the winter season saw everyone driving home for dinner at a crawls pace.

In the field behind the house, clumps of snow clung to the stands of wildflowers making them look like a field of cotton.

Clear blue sky were back in time for the weekend.

In the garden, the sedum, that I had never gotten round to cutting back, was sporting flat, white snow caps.

Though it was cold, the sun was warm enough to melt the covering of snow on the roof. Icicles quickly formed all along the eves and began raining ice cold water down on the small garden I have planted at the side of the house.

I noticed with horror that one of my favorite spirea, the one with deep pink flowers, was encased in ice. There is nothing more killing than ice. 

The branches of the spirea, enveloped in ice sleeves, got me to thinking of another scene that I pass by most days- these odd, evergreen sentinels that stand at the crest of a hill overlooking the highway. Wrapped in burlap and bound with rough twine, they are the oddest looking winter prisoners.

Planted by the city of Mississauga in late August, when the heat was on high and rainwater scarce, they already had the odds of survival stacked against them. Now with the arrival of winter, they had been buffeted by the strong winds that sweep over the open landscape. 

The harsh winter winds have contorted and twisted them into oddest of shapes. In the twilight the bound, ghostly figures seem almost eerie.

 The burlap covering makes me think of butterfly cocoons. Hopefully, the evergreen trees will emerge still living this coming spring, after being released from their protective winter coverings.

Color Essay Number 3: Yellow

Watch out for sharks! Yellow ducks in the "Go Fish" Pond for kids at the Brampton Fall Fair.

I always thought that yellow was an unpopular garden color- that was until I did a post entitled "Poor Friendless Yellow". It turns out that I was dead wrong and there are lots of gardeners, who just like me, like yellow flowers.

In my garden, yellow blooms when the daffodils first emerge from the ground in springtime. Then it takes a bit of a break, only to come out in full force mid-summer. Yellow then carries on, taking the lead well into late fall. I can't imagine my garden without it.

With out further delay, here are my favorite yellow pictures taken both in my garden and elsewhere as noted.

Crabapples in a Brockville Ontario park.

Calendula

Yellow leaves float on the water. Fountain at the Kensington Flea Market, Toronto, Ontario.

Here and above: Yellow plums at the Farmer's Market, Brampton Ontario.

Elaine Rose at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Hamilton Ontario.

Daylily, We're in the Hayfield Nursery, Ontario. I have several lemon colored daylilies in my garden and they are a refreshing change from the more popular pink and orange varieties.

Goldenrod, Edwards Gardens, Toronto, Ontario.

Wild Brown-Eyed Susans, Blue Springs Scout Reserve, Ontario.

I count on yellow flowers, that emerge in late summer, to help see me through the fall.

Sunflower

Sunflowers from the garden at Lancaster Public School in Mississauga, Ontario.

 To reduce highway fatalities of Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnakes, signs have been placed throughout the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario.

The last of my creamy yellow groundcover roses.

Brampton, Ontario walking trail.

From my garden, a hosta leaf that has turned yellow in late fall.

I end with a personal favorite- sunflowers from the Brampton Farmer's Market.

Have a great Weekend!

The New Year Dawns

Late last week, the appearance of grey fog at dawn signaled the arrival of warmer temperatures.

At the edge of a ribbon of ice that had formed along the banks of the Credit River, I noticed a small flock of Canadian Geese had gathered for an early morning swim. The murky grey water must have been bitter cold, but they didn't seem to mind.

   

When the dogs and I walked through the garden, I saw that long slivers of ice crystals, like hundreds of sharp thorns had formed on the bare branches and the needles of our pine tree.

Rain followed the morning fog and then on new year's day, the greater Toronto area enjoyed record breaking mild temperatures (a balmy 12 degrees Celsius). Winter is definitely off to an odd beginning here in Ontario!

More predictably, store flyers once filled with Christmas items have given way to ads for the storage bins and exercise equipment needed for us all to cope with seasonal excesses. 

I, for one, am glad to see that the red, pink and white poinsettias which, only last week, lined store shelves have been replaced with exotic orchids and cheerful pots of spring bulbs.

We tend to think of the new year not only as a time for fresh starts, but also a time to reflect back on the year that was. For my family, it was a year of many changes. Even our everyday habits seemed to shift.

For one thing, we pretty much stopped watching television. Now, before you congratulate me on all the new found hours we must have gained, let me explain we replaced watching the television with watching the computer.

We discovered, somewhat by accident, that most of the major Canadian television networks like the CBC, Global TV and CTV offer many of their best television shows through their websites (I am sure American networks are probably the same). A little web surfing also reveals other website that offer archival television programs. Not very show can be found on the internet but there are plenty enough to keep you watching.

Advantages of watching the computer/internet? We have discovered there are many. 

Few commercials (for now anyway). 

The freedom to watch the show you want to see when you see it (home rule is a luxury not to be underestimated). 

The liberty to watch a series in the order and without mid-season repetitions.

Disadvantages? Well, there is one major one. We now download up to 60 GB a month and have had to adjust our high speed internet service accordingly. Considering the advantages, we now choose the better internet service over traditional cable television. I am not advocating that watching the internet is for everyone, but for us it works.

Television is not the only traditional media that seems to be effected by the internet. 

Though readers have giving magazines like Ontario Gardener negative feedback on going digital with the magazine, I personally think that digital media is still going to have a big impact on the world of magazines of all types in the next few years.

In the home decor category of Canadian magazines, House and Home now offers its readers the option of a digital version of the magazine. They also have an online video show with house tours, decorating tips and creative projects. I only wish there was an equivalent for garden enthusiasts that offered online shows with garden tours and plant tips.

The internet seems to have also influenced the way in which books are published. Just last week, I listened with interest to a podcast of Shelia Roger's conversation with author Terry Fallis on CBC Radio's the Next Chapter. When he was unable to interest a publisher in his novel "The Best Laid Plans", Terry Fallis began podcasting chapters of his book on the internet.

The book was later picked up by publisher McClelland & Stewart and has since been named by CBC's Canada Reads as one of the Top 10 Essential Canadian Novels of the Decade.

You don't need a crystal ball to predict that with the arrival of new digital readers, traditional print media will continue to evolve and change rapidly in the coming years. I am not sure that I believe that traditional books will disappear any time soon but I do think that e-readers will have as big an impact on the world of publishing.

Weigh in on this issue. How is the internet effecting your habits? Do you think print books and magazines will go the way of the dodo?